What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$8,945 to $21,313 a year for in-state students, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate · in-state rates
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $28,660 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $15,951.Aid and debt
36.2%
receive need-based grants
$32,545
average debt at graduation
6,750
students got merit aid
about 29% of undergraduates
$11,501
average merit award
Getting In
Key dates
Transfer Deadlines
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 990–1175 · 27% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 21–29 · 61% of the class submitted
22% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Important
- GPA
- SAT/ACT scores
- Considered
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- Class rank
- Not considered
- Personal essay
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Character
- First-gen status
- Legacy status
- Where you're from
- In-state residency
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
Ole Miss doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
Ole Miss just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-Ole Miss essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
45.9% of Ole Miss classes have fewer than 20 students.
45.9%
under 20 students
38.4%
20 to 49
15.7%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. Ole Miss CDS 2025–26, I-3.
18:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
67.5%
first-years from out of state
28%
live on campus
40%
of men in fraternities
53%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White76.1%
- Black10%
- Hispanic6.2%
- Multiracial3.1%
- Asian1.8%
- Unknown / other1.1%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. Ole Miss CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
57.8% of Ole Miss students graduate in 4 years.
57.8%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
70.3%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
86.7%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
57.5% finish in 6 years, against 70.3% of all students.
A 12.8-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Oxford.
Oxford is a classic Southern college town of about 28,000 people, built around a courthouse Square lined with bars, restaurants and the independent bookstore Square Books, a short walk from campus.
MoreLess
It's also William Faulkner's hometown — his home, Rowan Oak, sits just off campus and is owned and run by the university. Memphis is about an hour north, but weekends here tend to revolve around campus itself, especially The Grove on football Saturdays.
The City
College town
Oxford, MS
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Eli Manning
Started at quarterback for four years, won the Maxwell Award as a senior, and was the first overall pick of the 2004 NFL draft, going on to win two Super Bowls with the New York Giants. He graduated with a degree in marketing.
Class of 2004
John Grisham
Earned his law degree here in 1981 before practicing as a trial lawyer and becoming one of the best-selling novelists in the world, mostly writing legal thrillers.
Class of 1981
James Meredith
Became the first African American student to enroll at Ole Miss in 1962, escorted onto campus by federal marshals amid a deadly riot, and graduated in 1963 with a degree in political science — a turning point of the civil rights movement.
Class of 1963
Shepard Smith
Left Ole Miss two credits short of a degree to take a reporting job in Florida, and went on to anchor Fox News Channel's flagship newscast for two decades before launching his own show on CNBC.
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
The Grove
A 10-acre green space at the center of campus that becomes a sea of tents on football Saturdays — Sports Illustrated has ranked it the best tailgating site in the country. Cars have been banned since 1991, and students traditionally dress up rather than down.
Hotty Toddy
The call-and-response cheer that doubles as an all-purpose greeting around Oxford, recited before kickoff at every home game and dating back to at least 1926.
The Egg Bowl
The season-ending rivalry game against Mississippi State, played annually since 1901, with the loser's team forfeiting the Golden Egg trophy for the year.
Weekend escapes from Oxford
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Oxford
Memphis, TN
About 1 hour 15 minutesThe closest real city — Beale Street, Graceland, and the National Civil Rights Museum.
Clarksdale and the Mississippi Delta
About 1 hourThe birthplace of the blues, on the official Mississippi Blues Trail, with juke joints and the Delta Blues Museum.
Nashville, TN
About 3 hours 45 minutesA bigger weekend trip to Music City, for students who want more than Oxford's own Square.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Frederick W. Smith International Airport (MEM)
About 1 hour 15 minutes from campus
For international flights: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) — about 5 hours by road, or a short connecting flight from memphis.
Pro sports nearby
- Memphis Grizzlies NBAAbout 1 hour 15 minutes away
- Memphis Redbirds MiLB (AAA)About 1 hour 15 minutes away
- Tennessee Titans NFLAbout 3 hours 45 minutes away
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
Oxford itself is a small college town, but Memphis's logistics and healthcare economy is about an hour north, and the Toyota plant near Tupelo is even closer — internships here mean a commute, not a relocation.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- FedEx
- Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi
- International Paper
- Baptist Memorial Health Care
- C Spire
Memphis, about 1 hour 15 minutes; the Toyota plant near Tupelo about 1 hour
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Ole Miss admits 97.4% of applicants and only requires the SAT or ACT for a handful of named programs, so it's accessible to a wide range of academic profiles — the middle 50% SAT Composite among enrolled first-years is 990-1175. What sets the experience apart is culture: 40% of men and 53% of women join fraternities and sororities, and The Grove — the 10-acre tailgating green at the center of campus — is one of the most storied tailgating traditions in college football. Only 28% of undergraduates live on campus, so student life plays out as much in Greek houses and off-campus housing as in dorms. In-state tuition and fees run $10,438 a year, but aid doesn't fully close the gap: the school meets 73% of a first-year's demonstrated need on average, and students who borrow graduate owing $32,545. The honest trade-off is pace to a degree — 57.8% finish in four years, though 70.3% finish within six.